About Raz Rassel

Raz grew up performing with Hard Rock bands out of Minneapolis, and he went on to tour the United States and Canada as a fulltime Hard Rock singer/guitarist. Currently, Raz resides in Sarasota, FL and has performed with local Sarasota Hard Rock and Country Rock bands. Raz’s first love has always been recording and producing music, so he is returning to his roots with a retro Heavy Metal album titled “Full Circle”. Music demos for all eleven songs on Full Circle has been produced and the first single, Putin’s Doom, was released in March 2023. Vocal production is proceeding on the other ten songs.

I started playing guitar in my early teens, learning 70’s and 80’s hard rock guitar songs. Rush, Van Halen, Led Zepplin, Dio, Ozzy, and Black Sabbath were early influences. During high school, I joined an 80’s Metal cover band and began performing at parties and festivals. For my 16th birthday, I bought a 4-track multi-track cassette recorder, which spawned my love for recording music. Producing multi-track music recordings helped me become a better musician and singer. As my playing developed, I studied the great guitarists of the era; Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eric Johnson, then I began touring the United States and Canada with a popular Hard Rock bands. Performing on the road in front of audiences, several days per week, made me a more practiced and proficient musician and singer. I enjoy the energy of live performance and the experience it brings. But even on the road I was writing music and recording song ideas on my 4track cassette machine. The thrill of writing and recording music never disappoints me.

Alex Lifeson of Rush was a huge guitar influence in my early years. His clean chorused rhythms were beautiful, his distorted rhythms were iconic and his guitar solos were uniquely amazing. Jimmy Page was another big early influence. I remember Warrant’s guitarist said, “I try to make new licks that no one has done before, but Jimmy Page already did them all.” Eddie Van Halen was probably my biggest influence and his revolutionary sound drove me to become a better guitarist. I learned the first two Ozzy albums to study the guitar style of Randy Rhoads, where I was introduced to the Harmonic Minor scale. I bought my 1973 Gibson Les Paul Custom because that’s what Randy Rhoads played. I learned Dio’s first 2 solo albums because Ronnie James Dio was and is the greatest Heavy Metal singer of all time. Dio’s guitarist, Vivian Cambell, had raw guitar style that influenced the foundation of my sound and style. Yngwie Malmsteen and his flamboyant neo-classical guitar licks hijacked my playing style. A few years later Eric Johnson, and his unique fusion style helped balance my obsession with Yngwie. Neal Schon of Journey was the inspiration for my slow weeping guitar style that is heard in many of my songs.

Vocally, my biggest influences are Robert Plant of Led Zepplin, Brad Delp of Boston, Steve Perry of Journey, Mickey Thomas of Starship, Ronnie James Dio of Black Sabbath/Dio, Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Geddy Lee of Rush, and David Coverdale of Whitesnake. I’m also a fan of Pop and R&B singers such as Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Winwood, and others. People have said my singing voice sounds alot like Geoff Tate of Queensryche. I admit I am a fan of Queensryche’s music, but I wasn’t influenced by them stylewise. My favorite singer is Ronnie James Dio, and my second favorite singer is Mickey Thomas.

Recording music has long been my first love. I feel it’s the most enjoyable part of being a musician. Composing, arranging and performing to create music that is unique, and fun. I look forward to publishing my retro Heavy Metal Album, with Razworks. Listen to the first single from this album, Putin’s Doom on Spotify. Music demos for the other album songs on YouTube.